"Múin Béarla do na Leanbháin" ('Teach the Children English'): Migration as a Prism for Viewing Ethnolinguistic Vitality in Northern Ireland

关于北爱尔兰语言的大部分研究侧重于加深我们对两个主要民族(罗马天主教徒和新教徒)所说语言和方言的历史和当代多样性的理解。这一学术焦点反映了20世纪大部分时间里NI人忍受的社会冲突的方方面面，围绕这些社区(分别是爱尔兰盖尔人和阿尔斯特苏格兰人)的语言遗产展开了激烈的辩论。最近的和平进程一方面确保了对爱尔兰人和阿尔斯特苏格兰人的更大保护，另一方面也使爱尔兰人对经济移民更具吸引力。这导致了前所未有的外来移民(特别是来自新欧盟国家的移民)，使该区域的少数民族(以及他们所说的语言)变得越来越清晰可见。这导致了传统NI人群的某些部分(特别是年轻的工薪阶层男性)和新来的人之间的紧张关系。例如，在种族主义袭击后的媒体报道中宣称，这些少数族裔“已成为北新尼罗河冲突后社会的新受害者”(见视觉证据附件，第1(A)-(E)页)。该项目试图更好地了解不断变化的人口对北新尼罗河的社会文化和语言的影响。另一个重要目标是比较当代移民到新尼罗河的经历与散居国外的移民的经历，散居国外的人本身就是为了应对该区域内的历史冲突、饥荒和经济萧条而逃往国外的人。通过提供对来自少数民族占多数的社区的前几代移民所经历的融入问题的见解，可以改善未来移民到NI的生活。在这一努力中，这项提议得到了由国际和平协会领导的国家学者研究网络的支持，该网络的成员对双语和社会正义感兴趣。该项目还将与设在北爱尔兰的两个伙伴合作：Ultach信托基金和梅隆移徙研究中心，这两个机构在吸引更广泛的公众方面都有丰富的经验。他们的使命是确保NI成为一个消息灵通的社区，自信地、创造性地与该地区目前支持的多元文化和语言的方方面面进行接触。该项目还将受益于国际学校将领导的知识交流活动，参加活动的有小学和小学后教育的教师和年轻人。这项研究还将支持两项语言调查：(I)对历史档案数据的调查，这将利用研究委员会最近在移民信件和关于移民和返回的个人叙述的数字化方面的大量投资，由PI领导；(Ii)调查作为计划提案的一部分，在RA将领导的来自不同社会、种族和地理背景的年轻人群体中进行的新访谈。这项研究将把在英格兰、苏格兰和爱尔兰共和国进行的类似研究项目进行比较，以便进行方法论和理论上的比较。这两项调查还将得到国际和跨学科研究网络的支持，这些网络具有国际性和跨学科性质，并将产生包括会议和出版物在内的协作成果。

A majority of research on language in Northern Ireland (NI) has focused on deepening our understanding of the history and contemporary diversity of the languages and dialects spoken by the two major ethnic groups (Roman Catholics and Protestants). This scholarly focus reflects aspects of the social conflict endured by the NI population for much of the twentieth century, and heated debates have surrounded the linguistic heritages of these communities (respectively, Irish Gaelic and Ulster Scots). The recent Peace Process has, on the one hand, ensured greater protection for Irish and Ulster Scots, and, on the other, has made NI more attractive to economic migrants. This has resulted in unprecedented inward migration (particularly from the new EU countries) so that ethnic minorities in the region (and the languages they speak) have become increasingly audible and visible. This has led to new sources of tension between certain sectors of the traditional NI populations (particularly young, working-class males) and the new arrivals. Reports in the media following racist attacks have, for instance, proclaimed that these ethnic minorities 'have become the new victims in Northern NI's post-conflict society' (See Visual Evidence Attachment, p.1 (A)-(E)).This project seeks to understand better the socio-cultural and linguistic impact on NI of its changing population. Another important objective is to compare the experiences of contemporary migrants to NI with those of the NI Diaspora, people who themselves fled abroad in response to historical conflicts, famine and economic depression within the region. By providing insights into the problems with integration experienced by previous generations of migrants from the ethnic majority communities, the lives of future migrants to NI can be improved. The proposal is supported in this endeavour by a research network of national scholars that the PI would lead, its members having interests in bilingualism and social justice. The project will also collaborate with two partners based in Northern Ireland: the Ultach Trust, and the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, both of which have extensive experience of engaging the wider public. Their mission is to ensure that NI becomes an informed community, confidently and creatively engaged with all aspects of the diverse cultures and languages that the region now supports. The project would also benefit from knowledge exchange activities that the PI will lead involving teachers and young people from primary and post-primary education. The research will also support two linguistic investigations: (i) An investigation of historical archival data that will capitalize on considerable recent research council investment in the digitisation of emigrant letters and personal narratives of migration and return, which the PI would lead and (ii) An investigation of new interviews conducted as part of the planned proposal amongst groups of young people drawn from different social, ethnic and geographic backgrounds, which the RA would lead. This study will draw parallels between similar research projects conducted in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland so that comparisons can be made which are both methodological and theoretical in orientation. These two investigations will also be supported by research networks led by the PI that are both international and cross-disciplinary in nature and will result in collaborative outputs including conferences and publications.